Wednesday, April 06, 2005

Serbian agents 'helping Mladic' - BBC

The Serbian security services know where most-wanted Bosnian Serb war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic is hiding, a top Belgrade official has said."They know if he is in Serbia, and they know if he is not. They are paid to know," Serbia and Montenegro Foreign Minister Vuk Draskovic said. Speaking to the UK's Financial Times newspaper, he said Mr Mladic depended on such "protection" to avoid arrest. Mr Mladic is accused of genocide over the 1995 Srebrenica massacre in Bosnia.He has been on the run since the Bosnian war ended a decade ago."It is only logical that the security services know where Mladic is," Mr Draskovic said.Top suspectsMr Mladic and former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic are believed to be in either Serbia and Montenegro or the Bosnian Serb Republic.Each man faces 16 counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and violation of the laws of war. Their squads are accused of killing more than 7,500 Muslims at Srebrenica.Mr Mladic's wartime deputy Milan Gvero surrendered to the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague in February.The Serb authorities have come under intense Western pressure to hand over those wanted by the tribunal. Belgrade says it is currently looking for Nebojsa Pavkovic, a top Serbian general wanted for crimes committed during the Kosovo campaign. Earlier this week Mr Draskovic said he believed Serbian security agents were also helping Mr Pavkovic to hide.He warned that if Belgrade allowed Mr Pavkovic to evade justice it would jeopardise its relations with the EU and its role in the Kosovo status negotiations.